Eye on the Oscars: Best Picture

ORIGINS: “My friend Nick Allott, who runs Cameron Mac­kintosh’s company, suggested I come talk to Cameron if I was interested in turning ‘Les Miserables’ into a movie,” Fellner says. “We met, we talked, we did a deal. We developed the material into a film script and went from there.”

DOMINO EFFECT: “Without any of the original creators, Tom Hooper or the stars, the project would never have happened. Bill Nicholson wrote the initial script, which attracted Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. If Hugh had said no, we wouldn’t have made the film.”